The Mass of the Roman Rite: Its Origins and Development, a book written by Rev Joseph A Jungmann, S J, Professor of Theology, University of Innsbruck, with the imprimatur by Francis Cardinal Spellman had a strong influence on the Second Vatican Council. Rev Joseph was a member of the preparatory commission for the liturgy beginning in 1960 and became a member of the commission for conciliar liturgy in 1962. He wrote in 1950: “The liturgy, celebrated in a lively way for centuries had been the main form of pastoral care. This is true first of all for the earliest time when the liturgy was created in its essential form. However, due to unfortunate circumstances, it happened that in the late Middle Ages many collegiate and monastic churches no doubt celebrated the liturgy with great zeal and brilliance, and even enriched it with new forms; but, at the same time, something intervened between the liturgy and the people like a wall of mist, through which the faithful could only see in a confused way what was happening at the altar…” As to the question of facing the people or facing away he wrote: “To this table the liturgus came at the beginning of the Mass proper, the sacrificial offering. On which side should he take his place — facing the people or facing away? History indicates that both practices were in use from the very start, at least in the vicinity of Rome. Even today they are both countenanced in the Missale Romanum.™ One way, the priest stands turned towards the altar facing in the same direction as the people; this is at present the general rule both East and West, and appears to have always been the rule in the East. The other way, he stands on the side opposite, facing the people, and this is the position presupposed in some of the older Roman churches.” P.255
“Orientation at prayer and the symbolism it entails has lost much of its meaning for us. But the basic principle that at prayer all — including even the celebrant — should take a God-ward stance, could easily be at work here too, in establishing the celebrant’s position at the altar. If Mass were only a service of instruction or a Communion celebration, the other position, facing the people, would be more natural. But it is different if the Mass is an immolation and homage to God. If today the altar versus populum is frequently chosen, this is the result of other considerations that come into play — considerations which are rated as of paramount importance particularly as a reaction to earlier conditions. It serves to narrow down the distance between priest and congregation and to highlight the instructive items contained in the prayer and the rite. In certain circumstances — like the services for young people — these reasons appear to be well-founded.”
When we read the text of Jungmann after 70 years, two points remain to be clarified. What was the motive of turning to the East?; which is God-ward stance? If pagan Sun worship was the motive of turning to the East, we have every freedom to think of an appropriate stance. In which direction do we turn to God? For a Christian turn to God, he or she must turn to Christ the sacrament of God: “Where two or three gather together in My name, there am I with them” (Mt 18:20). He is absent and the Church becomes his body – the people of God. As for a Christian, the face of God is truly reflected on the face of Christ. Our way to God is through the neighbour: “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me”(Mt 25:40). The face is the epiphany wherein it is panim, which means ‘presence’ – appearance that can fully define or express the essence of a person. The face of the Other is the presence of the Other.
Consequently, Rev Jungmann S J mentions the “concelebration of the laity” as a desirable element that the Church should restore. At a liturgical congress in Munich, in 1955, he called for a new understanding of the Mass, for a “revival of the meaning of the Mass as an authentic community offering,” on the grounds that “over time we have lost the meaning of the liturgy.”

-P.T.